In performing joint replacement surgeries, such as for hips, knees and ankles, bone often must be removed and/or resurfaced to better accept the prosthesis. The bone removal/resurfacing is typically done with a drill-like device having a cutting surface or burr having a shaft that is secured to and rotated by a motorized hand piece. The burr may be used with a sleeve or guard which houses the shaft and provides a support surface which may be gripped by the surgeon or secured to a jig.
To the extent that surgical devices and instruments are used for more than a single surgical procedure, the ability to easily and effectively sterilize the device is of concern. In order to be effectively sterilized, instruments must first be thoroughly cleaned. Otherwise, the debris that remains on the surface of the instrument may form a protective barrier that shields microbes from destruction when sterilized. Because of these difficulties, many surgical instruments are used once, and then disposed of, rather than risk a second use of an instrument that has not been effectively sterilized. Notwithstanding the benefits of disposability, the materials and manufacturing costs associated with some surgical instruments are sufficiently high that to limit the instrument to a single use before disposal is unduly expensive. Consequently, some instruments are designed to have both disposable and reusable components. A continuing challenge when designing surgical instruments that comprise both single use and reusable components is to configure the device so that the disposable components are relatively inexpensive while the reusable components can be easily and effectively cleaned and sterilized. In the context of the present disclosure, there is a continuing need to address such challenges and to provide surgical rotary cutting tool and guard assemblies that reduce the cost without presenting undue sterilization challenges.